Sartori Cheese has a new CEO -- a fourth-generation family member

PLYMOUTH - Sartori Cheese has been passed to the fourth generation.

The Plymouth-based artisan cheesemaker named Bert Sartori its new CEO, the fourth generation of the Sartori family to lead the award-winning company with more than 900 employees. Bert previously served as president of the company.

Bert Sartori succeeds his father, Jim, who served as CEO for almost 30 years. A licensed cheesemaker, Bert Sartori also has more than 17 years of experience in finance, operations and business development.

“Sartori Cheese has always represented a culture of cheesemaking that celebrates creativity, passion, and authenticity,” Bert Sartori said in a media release. “I’m proud to lead a company anchored in tradition while pushing the boundaries of our craft so we can share new-to-the-world, award-worthy cheeses with people across the globe.”

He said his immediate priorities will be to continue Sartori Cheese's partnership with Wisconsin dairy farmers and upholding the craft of cheesemaking. The company has four dozen licensed cheesemakers and one of only two Wisconsin women to hold that designation.

“Making great cheese starts with exceptional people — and we’re excited to continue investing in the talented, dedicated members of our team,” Sartori said in a media release.

Sartori makes a variety of Parmesan, cheddar and Asiago cheeses, as well as BellaVitano, a cheese style the company introduced in 2008, and MontAmore cheddar. A Sartori black pepper reserve, BellaVitano would go on to win top honors at the 2017 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.

Bert Sartori takes on the top job about a year after the company completed a 22,000-square-foot expansion of its whey-converting facility in Plymouth, an expansion that created more jobs and more space for converting and packaging. Sartori cheese products ship to more than 50 countries now.

Paolo Sartori, an Italian immigrant, founded Sartori Cheese in Plymouth in 1939. By then, the community already had an extensive history of cheesemaking, picking up the moniker "Cheese Capital of the World" around the same time Sartori got started. By 2017, Sartori was the sole company in Plymouth that sill made cheese.

Paolo would pass management of the company to his son, Joe, in 1957. Joe Sartori would run the company until 1986, when he passed control to Jim Sartori, Bert's dad.

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 orjbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.